In 2007, the European Commission commissioned Empirica to do a mapping of cultural websites in Europe. The report that came out on February 18th, 2010, is rather substantial and can be found online at http://www.culturemap.net/documents/CULTUREMAP_Final_Report_20100216.pdf
It is an impressive read, in particular in view of the fact that cultural websites hardly existed just a decade ago. Yet the report is rather naïve in its conclusion, suggesting a “one stop shop approach; a central access point to the multitude and comprehensive information offers and different types of services already available on the internet for all cultural disciplines.”
Culture is, by nature, lively and vibrant. New initiatives are taken every hour or minute somewhere in Europe, small amateur projects suddenly thrive and grow while other die out, and initiatives frequently overlap several industries and are not easily fitted into special cultural boxes. Moreover, social media platforms are by nature overtaking communication about cultural activities and replace branded websites. Thus, although the report is interesting, the content and findings are already "old" at the time of publication. The conclusion therefore seems to be a yet an other youthful attempt to imagine the ideal based on the assumption that the world remains status quo. It doesn't.
Country cultural profiles
For anyone interested in European culture, the site www.culturalpolicies.net provides a great overview of national cultural policies. It may be interesting for readers of this newsletter to click their own country's profile to see if the presentation is fair, or maybe learn something new!
